Vertically adjustable mount for an outboard motor



oct, 13, 1959 M. T. FORBES ETAL VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE MOUNT FOR ANOUTBOARD MOTOR Filed Dec. 9, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/G; i,

INVENTORS VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE MOUNT FOR AN OUTBOARD MOTOR FiledDec 9,1955 M. T. FORBES ETAL Oct. 13, 1 959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVENTORS MELw/v 77 P035515,

C644 YLES L. MOULT/Qfl);

, W01 1! ATTOE/VEYS.

Oct. 13, 1959 I M. T. FORBES ETAL 2,90

VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE MOUNT FOR AN OUTBOARD MOTOR Ill// 4 M E L V/IV 7:F7

. (795994 E 5 A M00; TBA *4 97 nrraelve vs.

Oct. 13, 195 9 M. T. FORBES ETAL 2,908,242

VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE MOUNT FOR AN OUTBOARD MOTOR Filed Dec. 9, 1955 4Sheets-Sheet 4 86 g I 03 I I G NV NT R MEL V/N 7. 5: 013 49455 L. M0047231 ATTOFA/EYQF.

United States Patent VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE MOUNT FOR AN OUTBOARD MOTOR-Melvin T. Forbes and Charles L. Moultray, Bremerton, Wash.

The present invention relates to a mounting structure for an outboardmotor and in particular to a vertically adjustable mounting structurefor raising and lowering an outboard motor relative to the boat on whichthe motor is mounted and for supporting the motor at selected positionsof elevation relative to the boat.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vertically adjustablemounting structure for an outboard motor the raising and lowering ofwhich is controlled from a forward position in the boat carrying themotor, one which may be used with all outboard motors ,which clamp tothe transom of a boat without alteration either to the boat or to themotor, and one which may be left installed on the boat when the motor isremoved.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a mount for anoutboard motor which may be raised to permit the boat on which it isinstalled to be operated in shallow water and to pass over weed beds andother obstacles in the water.

A still further object of the present invention is to provideavertically adjustable mount for an outboard motor which is simple instructure, sturdy in construction, one easily and economicallymanufactured and assembled, and one. which is highly efiective inaction.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will befully apparent from the following description when taken in connectionwith the annexed drawings, in which:

1 Figure l is an elevational view of the outboard motor mountingstructure of the present invention with a portion of the body of a boatin cross-section and with an outboard motor indicated in dotted linesand shown installed on the structure of the present invention,

"Figure 2 is a plan view ofthe mounting structure of thepresent,invention as installed on the transom of a boat, the boat' beingpartially shown,

Figure, 3' is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3 -3of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4--4 of Fi r 3,

[)Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is an elevational view partially in cross-section and greatlyenlarged showing the electric motor and, hydraulic pump of the apparatusof Figure 1,

Figure 7 is a, sectional view on the line 7-7 of Figure 3, 4

Figure 8 is an elevational view similar to Figure 1 showing another formof the means for raising and lowering the outboard motor and itsmounting structure,

Figure 9 is a plan view greatly enlarged of a portion ofthe apparatus ofFigure 8,

Figure 10 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 10-10.of the Figure 9,

.Figure 11 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 11-11of Figure 9,

ICC

Figure 12 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 12.12vof Figure 9, and

Figure 13 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 13-13of Figure 8.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings in which like numeralsindicate like parts throughout the several views, the verticallydisposed adjustable mount for an outboard motor of the present inventionis indicated generally by the reference. numeral 14 and comprises anupright guideway 15 adapted to be fixedly secured to the outsideJface ofa boat transom 16, the boat vbeing indicated by the reference numeral17. I

An upright plate 18 is arranged in face to face spaced relation withrespect to the guideway 15 and is connected thereto by means of a pairof vertically disposed sup port members 19 and 21 for upward anddownward movement. The support members 19 and 21 are arranged indiverging spaced relation with respect to each other and have adjacentand converging ends spaced in-' wardly from the adjacent side edges ofthe plate 18 and are welded or otherwise fixedly secured thereto, thediverging adjacent ends of the support members 19 and 21 havingoutwardly bent flanges 22 and 23, respectively, received in the grooves24 and 25, respectively, in the side edges of the guideway 15. v

The guideway 15 is provided with an outwardly projecting shelf 26 on itsconfronting face adjacent the lower end of and intermediate the sideedges of the guideway 15. A closed upright cylinder 27 has 'its lowerend above and supported on the shelf 26. A piston 28 within the cylinder27 is normally disposed adjacent to and spaced from the'lower end of thecylinder 27 and is mounted in the cylinder 27 for upward and downwardmovement. A piston rod 29 has one end fixedly secured to the piston 28and has its other end exteriorly of the upper end of the cylinder 27 andoperatively connected to the plate 18 for upward movement of the latterin response to upward movement of the piston 28 by means of a bracket 31which projects from the confronting face of the plate 18 adjacent theupper end of the latter and intermediate the adjacent ends of thesupport members 19 and 21.

A fluid pump 32- is shown in Figures 1 and 6 and has an inlet 33 and anoutlet 34, the space within the housing check valve 38 therein isconnected by one end to the outlet of the pump 32 and has its other endconnected to the lower end of the cylinder 27. A valve housing 39 issecured to the upper end of the guideway 15 and has a bore 41 extendingthrough its lower end forming a bypass which connects the main conduit37 to the reservoir 36, the connection of the main conduit 37 beingconnected as shown in detail in Figure 4 with the reference numeral 36'indicating the portion of the conduit 37 which connects the cylinder 27to the bore 41 in the housing 39. A plug 42 in one end of the bore 41has a passage therethrough normally closed at its inner end by a ball 43biased to the closed position by a spring 44. A plunger 45 slides in thepassage in the plug 42 to unseat the ball from its position closing theplug passage to permit the flow of fluid from the bore 41 An electricmotor 47 has its shaft 48 directly connected to the shaft 49 of the pump:2 for operating the latter.'

The housing 39 is secured to the upper end of the guideway 15 by meansof a'tubular member 51 through which slides an actuating bar 52 having acam roller 53 on one Patented Oct. 13, 1953 3 end thereof and bearing onits other end an insulating block 54 having a plurality of contactsimbedded therein, the contacts being indicated by the reference numeral55 as shown most clearly in Figures 4 and S. A control cable 56.,extendsforwardly of the transom -16 in the boat 17 and has its one endoperatively connected to the "lever 57 shown pivotally mounted on theside of the boat 17 in Figure 1. The other end of control cable 56 isoperatively connected to one end of a bar "58 journaled in the walls ofthe housing 39 and carrying intermediate is ends a contact member 59 forcontacting selectively the con! tacts 55 to close the circuit whichincludes the wires .61 and 62 connected tothe electric motor 47 throughthe solenoid switch 63 mounted upon the side of the motor 47 andshown'in detail in Figure 6. A storage battery indicated by thereference numeral 64 in Figures 1 and 2 is connected incircuit with thesolenoid switch 63 and the motor 47 by means of electric cables-65 and-66.

The confronting face of the plate 18 as seenin Figure 3 carries acam'structure indicated by the reference numeral 67 engaged by the camroller 53 on the actuating bar 52, a spring 68 urging'the cam roller53-into engagement with the cam structure 67 to shift the contacts 55 asthe plate 18 is moved upwardly when fluid is admitted tothe lower end ofthe cylinder 27, beneath the piston 28. As will be'seen in Figure 5, thecontacts 55 are of such length that they are proportionate to theheighthof the levels of the cam structure 67 so that the motor 47 isdeenergized when the plate 18 reaches a predetermined height indicatedby the portions of the cam structure 67, thus assuring that the plate 18will rise to the desired height, the contact 59' being shiftable-byjmeans of the control cable 56 to engage the proper one of the contacts55for the selected height. A lever 69' pivotally mounted on the externalend of the plunger 45 connects the plnnger 45 to the bar 58 so that uponpulling movement of the control cable 56 to its farthestpoint in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Figure 4 will operate the valve inthe by -pass conduit 46, ythevalve being the ball 43 within the bore 41in thehousin'g 39.

.In the form of the invention shown in Figures Ste 13, inclusive, theadjustable mount for an outboard motor comprises a guideway 71 similarto the guideway 15 of the mountingstructure shown in Figures 1 to 3, andFigure 7, and consists in an upright plate having opposed groovesextending alongeach side edge, the plate being fixedly secured to theoutside face of a boat transom 72. -A closed upright cylinder 73 has its,lower' .end fixedly secured to a shelf 74 which projects from theconfronting face of the guideway 71. An'upright plate 75 is arranged inface to face spacedrelation with respect to the plate of the guideway 71and connected thereto for upward and downward movement by a pairofsupport members arranged in diverging spaced relation and having theirconverging ends fixedly secured to the plate 75 and having outwardlybent flanges on their diverging ends received in the opposed grooves inconstitutes the guideway 71.

A piston 76 is normally disposed adjacent to andspaced from the lowerend of the cylinder 73 and is mounted in the cylinder for upward anddownward movements.

Apiston rod 77 has one end fixedly secured to the piston 7 6,and has itsother end exteriorly of thelupper end of the cylinder 73 and operativelyconnected to the plate 75 adjacent the upper end ofthe latter foreffecting the upward movement of the plate 75 upon execution of upwardmovement of the piston 76.

A fluid pump shown in elevational view m Figure 8 and indicated by thereference numberal 78 is connected by a conduit 79 to a valve housing 81and a conduit 82 connects the valve housing 81 to the lower end of thecylinder 73 to effect the injection of fluid into the cylinder. A bypassconduit 83 connects the .valve housing 81 to the reservoir 84 which isformed on one side of the plate which the housing of the pump 78 asshown most clearly in arms 87 and 88, respectively, the lower ends ofthe latter being connected to a manually-operated lever 89 mounted foroscillation about a horizontal axis on the pump 78. Check valves 91 inthe housing of the pump 78 prevent reverse fluid flow from the mainconduit 79 and a check valve 92 in each of the passages 93 which connectthe pump cylinders 94 and 95, respectively, to the reservoir 84 preventthe flow of fluid from the pump cylinders 94 and 95 back to thereservoir 84. a

As seen in Figures 10 and 11, the housing of the pump 78 is providedwith a vertically extending bore 96 constituting a bypass connecting theconduit 79 with the reservoir'84 and a valve indicated generally by thereference numeral 97 having a ball 98, and a spring 99 biasing. the ballupwardly in the bore 96 to close a passage-through a plug 101. ,Aplunger 102 extends through the plug 101 and has its upper end connectedto an operating handle 103, the valve 97 being normally closed and whenopen serving to permit the flow of fluid from the cylinder 73 to thereservoirv84 by way of theconduit 79,-the bore 96 and a passage 104 inthe'housing on thepurnp 78. A second bypass valve indicated bythereference n11 meral 105 in Figure 13 is positioned in the valvehousing81 adjacent theupper end of the latter and has an operating handle 106formoving the valve 105 fromi' nor-. mally closed position to-an openposition permitting flow of fluid from the conduit 82 to the conduit,.83 .and-. thence back to the reservoir 84. i The plate 75 has a camstructure 107 on its confronting face engageable with a cam roller 108'connected to one end of a plunger 109, the otherend of the plunger 109being operatively connected to .a flexible cable .(not shown) operatingwithin a cable sheath .110as sholwn in Figure 8, the other endof theflexible cablebeing clon nected to a pointer within an indicator.housingindicated by the r'eference numeral 111. Y i In'the operation ofthe form of the inventionshowndp Figures 8 to 12, inclusive, t-he.pump-78 is-manually perated to force liquid through theconduit 79 intothe;wet end of the cylinder 73to raise the piston therein andgo carry theplate 75 upwardly to move anputboardrnotor shown in dotted lines inFigure 8 and indicated .bvthe reference numeral 112 to an elevatedposition.

The cam structure 107 throughthe carn roller 108 and the flexible cablewillmove the pointer: of the indi 11 1 to indicate the height of theoutboard motor relative to the boat onwhich theoutboardrnotoris mounted.When it is desired tolower the motoij either the valve 97 or the valve105may bewopened to peijmit the flow of fluid from the cylinder ,27 backto reservoir 84. The operation of the second form. ofthe invention 1. Avertically disposed adjustable mount forian outboard motor comprising anupright guideway gad pted. to be fixedly secured to the outside face ofa .boatltran som, an upright plate arranged in face to face spacedrelation with respect to said guidewayand thereto forupward and downwardmovement, plate being adapted to support an outboard motor thereon, p.

shelf carried by said guidewayadjacent the; lower end of andintermediate the side edges of said guid'ew ay; a

closed upright cylinder-having its lower end ;sup srga upon said shelf,a piston normally disposed adj acerit toand spaced from the lower end ofsaid cylinder and mounted in said cylinder for upward and downwardmovements, a piston rod having one end fixedly secured to said pistonand having its other end exteriorly of the upper end of said cylinderand operatively connected to said plate for eflecting the upwardmovement of the latter upon execution of upward movement of said piston,a fluid pump having an inlet and an outlet, a reservoir for fluid, amain conduit connecting said outlet of said pump to said lower end ofsaid cylinder to effect the injection of fluid into said cylinder, abypass conduit connecting said main conduit to said reservoir, anormally closed valve in said bypass conduit, and means operativelyconnected to said valve to shift it to open position to permit thereturn flow of fluid to said reservoir from said cylinder.

2. A vertically disposed adjustable mount for an outboard motorcomprising an upright guideway adapted to be fixedly secured to theoutside face of a boat transom, an upright plate arranged in face toface spaced relation with respect to said guideway, a pair of verticallydisposed support members arranged in diverging spaced relation withtheir converging and adjacent one ends spaced inwardly of the adjacentside edges of said plate and fixedly secured to said plate, said supportmembers having their diverging and adjacent other ends connected to saidguideway for upward and downward movement, a shelf carried by saidguideway adjacent the lower end of and intermediate the side edges ofsaid guideway, a closed upright cylinder having its lower end supportedupon said shelf, a piston normally disposed adjacent to and spaced fromthe lower end of said cylinder and mounted in said cylinder for upwardand downward movements, a piston rod having one end fixedly secured tosaid piston and having its other end exteriorly of the upper end of saidcylinder and operatively connected to said plate for eifecting theupward movement of the latter upon execution of upward movement of saidpiston, a fluid pump having an inlet and an outlet, a reservoir forfluid, a main conduit connecting said outlet of said pump to the lowerend of said cylinder to eflect the injection of fluid to said cylinder,a bypass conduit connecting said main conduit to said reservoir, anormally closed valve in said bypass conduit, and means operativelyconnected to said valve to shift it to open position to permit thereturn flow of fluid to said reservoir from said cylinder.

3. A vertically disposed adjustable mount for an outboard motorcomprising an upright plate having opposed grooves extending along eachof its side edges and adapted to be secured to the outside face of aboat transom, an upright second plate arranged in face to face spacedrelation with respect to said first-named plate, a pair of verticallydisposed support members arranged in diverging spaced relation withtheir converging and adjacent one ends spaced inwardly of the adjacentside edges of said second plate and fixedly secured to said secondplate, said support members having their diverging and adjacent otherends provided with flanges receivably engaged in said grooves in saidfirst-named plate for upward and downward movement, a shelf carried bysaid first-named plate adjacent the lower end of and intermediate theside edges of said first-named plate, a closed upright cylinder havingits lower end supported upon said shelf, a piston normally disposedadjacent to and spaced from the lower end of said cylinder and mountedin said cylinder for upward and downward movements, a piston rod havingone end fixedly secured to said piston and having its other endexteriorly of the upper end of said cylinder and operatively connectedto said second plate for effecting the upward movement of the latterupon execution of upward movement of said piston, a fluid pump having aninlet and an outlet, a reservoir for fluid, a main conduit connectingsaid outlet of said pump to the lower end of said cylinder to efiect theinjection of fluid to said cylinder, a bypass conduit connecting saidmain conduit to said reservoir, a normally closed valve in said bypassconduit, and means operatively connected to said valve to shift it toopen position to permit the return flow of fluid to said reservoir fromsaid cylinder,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,508,240 Fenn May 16, 1950 2,638,863 Kiebler et a1. May 19, 19532,666,619 Bloom Ian. 19, 1954 2,674,218 Kiekhaefer Apr. 6, 19542,747,819 Aldrich et a1. May 29, 1956

